


Into Shadows, Part 7

by skyblue_reverie



Series: Into Shadows [7]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-11-02 04:15:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20618816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyblue_reverie/pseuds/skyblue_reverie
Summary: My take on Into Darkness, less dark and with 11 billionty times more Pike and McCoy.This part: dead tribbles, deals with Khan, and Old Spock, whee!It wasn’t their way, to talk about this friendship that was the most important thing in either one of their lives, even more important to McCoy than his relationship with Chris, not that he would ever hurt Chris by saying so, even if he was pretty sure that Chris knew or at least suspected the truth.





	Into Shadows, Part 7

Leonard stared into the microscope, unable to believe his own eyes. The blood cells from the dead tribble were actually regenerating, reproducing, forming new healthy cells as he stared at them. It wasn’t possible, and yet, it was happening, right in front of him.

He looked up as he heard the medbay door swish open, and saw Jim striding in, focused like a hawk on Khan, who was surrounded by guards.

“Tell me everything you know about that ship,” Jim said.

“Dreadnought class,” Khan responded promptly. “Two times the size, three times the speed. Advanced weaponry. Modified for a minimal crew – one, if necessary. Unlike most Federation vessels, it’s built solely for combat.”

“I will do everything I can to make sure you answer for what did," Jim said. He paused for a long moment before saying, "But right now I need your help.”

“In exchange for what?” Khan all but sneered.

“You said you’d do anything for your crew. I can guarantee their safety.”

Khan's tone was dismissive, patronizing. “Commander, you can’t even guarantee the safety of your own crew.”

"Well, how about this. I _can_ guarantee that if we don't stop Marcus, he's going to destroy the Enterprise, killing you _and_ all of your crew. This is your only chance to save them."

They stared at each other for several seconds.

“Bones, what are you doing with that tribble?” Jim asked, abruptly looking away from Khan. He couldn’t admit that he’d lost to Khan, even at something as trivial as a staring contest, had to make out like he had chosen to break eye contact because something more pressing had come up. Typical. He was such a child sometimes.

“It’s dead, Jim. I’ve injected Khan’s platelets into the necrotic tissue of a deceased host. Khan’s cells regenerate like nothing I’ve ever seen, and I want to know why.”

Jim turned back to speak to Khan again, but before he could, Leonard grabbed Jim by the arm and pulled him away so they could speak privately. Well, semi-privately. “Jim, what crazy-ass stunt are you planning now, and why the hell are you asking _him_ to do it with you?”

Jim’s voice was low but urgent. “Bones, we’re out of options. We’ve got minimal power, shields at less than ten percent, no weapons. We can’t take Marcus’s ship from here. We have to send a small boarding party, hope to stay undetected, and take it from within.”

That sounded dire. He hadn’t known the Enterprise had taken that much damage. He sighed. “I don’t like it, but I get it. But why do you need Khan’s help?”

“I need someone with advanced combat capabilities, and he took out an entire squadron of Klingons single-handed. I need someone who knows that ship, and he designed it. My odds with him are better than with anyone else. If it helps, Pike agreed that this was our best shot.”

“Jim, he's a textbook sociopath. He’ll stab you in the back the first chance he gets.”

“Then I won’t let him get behind me. But he’s got a twisted sense of honor, and he genuinely cares about his crew. I think he’ll abide by an agreement if it keeps them safe. But I will keep my eyes and ears open, and I’ll have Spock there to help.”

Leonard snorted. "Spock's just as likely as Khan to stab you in the back - hell, more likely to; he's already done it once.“ Then he actually processed what Jim had said. "Wait, _Spock’s_ here? When did that happen?”

“Long story. But he’s on Admiral Marcus’s ship.”

“So, what, you two are going to beam over there and meet him?”

“Uh, not exactly.” Jim wouldn’t meet his eyes. Damn it. That was not a good sign.

“Then _‘exactly’_ how are you planning to board that ship?”

“…We’re gonna jump. From the Enterprise’s trash exhaust to an access port that Spock located on the other ship.”

“Jesus, Jim. That sounds like jumping out of a moving car, off of a bridge, and into a shot glass on top of another moving car.”

Jim waved this away, of course. “It’s okay. I’ve done it before. You remember, with Nero’s drill.”

“Yeah, and as I recall you nearly died.”

“Nearly is the keyword there.”

Leonard sighed and gave in. There wasn’t much he could do to stop Jim and anyway, if Chris had given his stamp of approval then it really was the best course of action, even if it was just the least bad of their limited options.

Jim saw his capitulation and clapped him on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine, Bones. I’ll be back in no time.”

Leonard rolled his eyes but said nothing more. Well, maybe one thing more. “You better,” he said, putting into it all the emphasis he knew how. It wasn’t their way, to _talk_ about this friendship that was the most important thing in either one of their lives, even more important to McCoy than his relationship with Chris, not that he would ever hurt Chris by saying so, even if he was pretty sure that Chris knew or at least suspected the truth. It also wasn’t Leonard and Jim’s way to talk about how Leonard _needed_ Jim to come home safe, but Jim would get it, and Jim didn’t have to say in return that he needed McCoy to be there waiting for him, to be his safety net when he leaped without looking, needed McCoy to patch him up and scold him and hold him together in more ways than just the physical. It was part of what made them work, this effortless communication without needing to belabor things with fancy speeches.

Jim gave him a soft smile, so different than his usual cheeky grin, that told McCoy he understood what Leonard was trying to say, and that expressed everything that Jim couldn’t put into words either. 

Then Jim was turning away from him, moving back over to Khan. “Well, are you coming or not?” he demanded. Khan rose to his feet, a tacit acceptance, and the two strode side-by-side out of medical.

The silence in the wake of the departure of Jim, Khan, and Khan’s security detail was overwhelming. From here in medbay, he’d have no idea what was going on, and he’d go crazy worrying about Jim. He abandoned his dead tribble and headed for the bridge.

Of course, Jim had neglected to mention the goddamn _debris field_ between him and the other ship, and when Sulu turned and told Pike that Jim wasn’t going to make it, Leonard’s heart nearly stopped. Then Khan was saving Jim, and Spock was opening the hatch seemingly milliseconds before Jim and Khan splattered onto the other ship’s surface like bugs on a windshield and Leonard was pretty much numb with terror. It was a familiar feeling, given how many brushes with death Jim had on a regular basis.

He knew they’d made it safely onto the other ship, because Jim was introducing Spock to Khan and Khan was saying that he knew the best way to the bridge. Then they took their helmets off and they weren’t broadcasting to the Enterprise anymore. 

Uhura turned to face Chris and said, “Captain, I have that transmission as requested.”

Chris nodded and said, “Patch it through to my ready room.” He got up and made his way over to the door to his ready room, and Leonard fell into step behind him. When Chris shot him a questioning look over his shoulder, he gave Chris a glare that said he wasn’t going to be shaken off. Chris didn’t order him away, and that was good enough for Leonard.

They stood together in front of the vidcomm unit in the ready room, and then there was a strange Vulcan appearing on the screen – no, wait, McCoy knew that face. That was Spock, just older. It had to be Old Spock from the other timeline. The one who’d told Jim that Jim and Spock were destined to be the most epic friends of all time or some shit. Leonard wasn’t buying it. Maybe in the other timeline, but in this one? Jim’s epic friendship was with _McCoy_, and that was that.

He didn’t know if his face had revealed what he was thinking or if it was something else that had Old Spock raising an eyebrow at him with a damn _twinkle_ in his eye, but he just said, “Greetings, Captain Pike, Dr. McCoy,” in a voice that held a serenity, an _acceptance_, somehow, of himself and others, that this universe’s Spock hadn’t attained. Probably never would, given what an ungrateful, uptight, traitorous little shit he'd shown himself to be. McCoy realized that he was maybe, possibly being a little unfair to Spock, a little harsh in his judgment, but honestly he didn't much care. 

Chris cut straight to the point. “Ambassador Spock. I know that you’ve said that you won’t share information that may alter our destinies. I also know that you lied to Kirk when you said that he couldn’t tell this universe’s Spock about your existence.”

Old Spock cut in, looking pained. “Captain. I did not lie, precisely. I… _implied_.”

Chris was suppressing an eyeroll, Leonard could tell, but he himself didn’t bother. He made sure Old Spock saw exactly how impressed he was with that distinction. It only earned him another twinkle.

Chris responded, “Fine. The point is, I’m hoping that you were merely _implying_ that you couldn’t or wouldn’t ever share information from your timeline with us. We’re dealing with someone named Khan, a genetically engineered human who was in cryonic stasis for three centuries. We were forced to make a deal with him for his help against Admiral Alexander Marcus, who has betrayed the Federation, in exchange for the safety of Khan’s crew. What I need to know is, can I trust Khan to keep his end of the bargain?”

Old Spock looked grave. It was strange how Leonard could read this Spock’s emotions, even if he didn’t move his facial muscles much more than the younger Spock did. As far as McCoy could tell, younger Spock only had two facial expressions: smug superiority and prissy disapproval. Occasionally, if the bastard was allowing himself to be extra emotive, both at once. Anyway, Old Spock was responding to Chris. “I cannot answer that with complete certainty. In my timeline, we also made a bargain with Khan, and allowed him and his followers to relocate to another planet, Ceti Alpha V. Voluntary exile, in essence. The bargain may have held had disaster not befallen the planet; I do not know. But six months after they arrived on Ceti Alpha V, there was an ecological catastrophe that rendered it essentially uninhabitable. Twenty members of Khan’s crew died there as a result, including his wife. Khan and the rest of his followers escaped, and Khan became fixated on the idea of vengeance against Jim Kirk for his role in placing Khan and his people on Ceti Alpha V. 

“At that point, overwhelmed with grief and obsessed with revenge, Khan Noonien Singh was the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise ever faced. He was brilliant, ruthless, and he did not hesitate to employ deception, torture and mass slaughter to achieve his ends.”

“How did you defeat him?” Chris asked.

Old Spock sighed. “At great cost. At the cost, in fact, of my own life.”

Chris raised an eyebrow and waited him out. After a moment, Spock continued.

“The Enterprise was nearly crippled. We had, in turn, fatally wounded Khan’s ship. Then Khan deployed an explosive device to take out both ships – a last-ditch suicide strike. We were unable to escape because our warp drive was damaged and offline. I entered the irradiated warp core reactor in order to make repairs. I succeeded, but died of radiation poisoning shortly thereafter. As you can see, that death was not permanent, but I did not know it at the time, and I will always regret the pain that I caused to Jim… to all of the crew.”

There was another pause as Chris absorbed that. Finally he said, “All right. Thank you for telling me all this. I’ll try to avoid anyone dying in the warp core reactor this time around, temporarily or not.”

Old Spock nodded. “Best of luck, Captain Pike. It was good to see you, Dr. McCoy. I hope to see you again under better circumstances.” Then he cut the transmission. Well, that was weird. Spock – any Spock – actually expressing a wish to spend time with McCoy made him slightly uncomfortable. Though this Spock didn't seem as terrible as his universe's Spock. Maybe he'd even enjoy tossing back a drink with him sometime, when all this was over. He pulled his wandering thoughts back to the current situation.

Leonard looked at Chris, who was obviously thinking furiously. He didn’t want to interrupt Chris’s train of thought, so he waited for Chris to speak. When he did, his words were a surprise.

“Len, you accidentally activated a torpedo. Could you do it again?”

Leonard gaped. “Why the hell would I want to do that, Chris?”

“Because we’re going to need a weapon to use against Khan.”

“Damn it, man, I’m a doctor, not a murderer. I won’t help you launch those torpedoes with human beings inside of them.” Leonard was appalled that Chris would even ask him to do such a thing. 

But Chris merely replied calmly, “I wasn’t planning to, Leonard. I need you to open up those torpedoes and get the cryo tubes out, and then be ready to arm the torpedoes. Can you do that, if you have help?”

Leonard felt his face grow hot. He was relieved, yes, but he was ashamed that he’d thought, even for a second, that Chris would do such a thing. Killing Khan without benefit of a trial, maybe. Killing seventy-two other human beings who may or may not have done anything wrong? Never. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. “Should’ve known better.” He was no good at apologies, but Chris deserved to hear it. Then he answered Chris’s question. “Yeah, I can do that.”

Chris smiled gently. “It’s all right, Leonard. We’re all on edge. Tell Uhura to assemble all senior engineering and medical staff in the weapons bay. Then get started on those torpedoes.”

Leonard gave Chris a last look, trying to convey his sorrow and his affection in his eyes. Chris didn’t get him quite the way that Jim did, but all the same, Chris's face softened and he said quietly, “I know, Len. I know.”


End file.
